Sailing Instructions (SI)

All races will be governed by the rules as defined in the Racing Rules of Sailing 2017-2020 (“RRS”) (www.ussailing.org) and class rules, except as modified by these instructions.

Skippers shall comply with all applicable governmental and safety regulations, including adequate personal buoyancy. Boats not in compliance may be disqualified by the Race Committee.

The responsibility for a skipper’s decision to race or to continue racing is his or hers alone.

ENTRY:

MBC members and guests may enter by registering with the Race Committee in writing before the warning signal.

REGISTRATION:

Boats and skippers shall register by class and sail number in writing before their first race.

Regular members of a boat’s crew may substitute for the skipper if registered in advance with the Race Committee. Skippers participating in the Summer Series must be MBC members.

A boat that retires from a race shall notify the race committee as soon as practical.

NOTICES:

Notices will be posted on the MBC Website (www.monmouthboatclub.org) and/or the official bulletin board on the East wall of the club.

These sailing instructions may be superseded by instructions given by the Race Committee prior to the warning signal.

Code Flag L, flown on the committee boat at the dock, indicates that a change in the sailing instructions has been posted today. When Code Flag L is displayed on the water, all boats shall come within hail of the Committee Boat to receive further instructions.

A Committee Boat shall signal by letter a course as diagrammed in these instructions, or as otherwise indicated by the Race Committee prior to the warning signal.

The Finish Line shall be between yellow flag on a Committee Boat and the nearby mark of the course or designated finishing mark.

BRIDGE RACE COURSES

Unless otherwise indicated, the course shall be to a windward mark with optional offset mark, then to a mark within the vicinity of Government Mark 17, to finish at MBC. Boats shall leave Government marks 17, 18, 19, and 20 on the channel side throughout the race.

In an easterly, the windward mark may be omitted.

The Finish Line shall be between a yellow flag on the T dock of MBC and the nearest “No Wake” buoy.

THE START:

At the discretion of the Race committee, races shall be started in accordance with RRS 26 or Appendix S.

Boats not starting promptly after their starting signal may be scored DNS.

TIME LIMITS:

Tuesday Evening and One-Design Races: The time limit for the first boat to complete the course is 45 minutes. Boats finishing more than 30 minutes after the first boat will be TLE (Time Limited Expired) and scored as if they had finished last. This modifies RRS 35 and A4.

Bridge Races: The time limit for the first boat of each division to complete the course is 2 hours.

Boats finishing more than 3 hours after the start of their division will be TLE (Time Limited Expired) and scored as if they had finished last. This modifies RRS 35 and A4.

PROTESTS & PENALTIES:

Protests shall be made in accordance with RRS 60 except as modified herein.

Protests shall be lodged with the RC within 30 minutes after the committee boat returns to the dock, except a protest in a bridge race shall be lodged within 30 minutes of the protestor’s finish time.

The RC may hear a protest immediately or post the sail numbers of the boats involved and schedule the hearing for the future. It is contestants’ responsibility to monitor the bulletin board for protests. The RC PRO shall designate parties with no conflict of interest, shall post the sail numbers of the boats involved and notify all parties of a date, time and place in accordance to RRS 63.2.

On Tuesday Evenings RRS 44 is changed to require a One-Turn Penalty for infractions of Part 2 of RRS.

SCORING: The official MBC Race Committee, and ultimately the 1st Rear Commodore, shall be the final arbiter on matters relating to scoring.

All Series Racing:

Series totals and averages shall be based on one throw out for every four races completed.

Skippers shall participate in at least half of the races in the series in their fleet to qualify for series scoring.

One completed race shall constitute a series.

Skippers shall receive points equal to their average points in a series for the first date that they serve on Race Committee in that series.

MBC Skippers away at US Sailing ladder events shall receive points equal to their average points in that series.

Additions for One-Design Racing:

The Low Point System of RRS Appendix A shall apply except as modified herein.

For MBC regatta scoring no races shall be excluded.

Additions for Handicap Racing:

The basic Portsmouth numbers, as published by US Sailing, shall be used to correct elapsed times.

The Low Point System of RRS Appendix A shall apply except as modified herein.

For Handicap races, skipper (s) is substituted for boat (s) in all places in RRS Appendix A

Race Committee Participation: All Series Racing and Race Committee Participation

For a skipper’s cumulative score for a given series (Spring/Summer/Fall) to be scored at the end of said series, that skipper must have participated in no less than one (1) day of Race Committee.

In Accordance with Section 11.I.D of these Sailing Instructions, the skipper shall receive average points for the first day served on Race Committee for that series.

The Skipper shall register for RC for the RC calendar with First Rear Commodore, No later than 2 days prior to the race. Send an email with your intentions to jhall1870@gmail.com. A notice will be returned to said skipper. All registered RC commitments will be posted on the MBC website under racing.

A list of all RC participation will be kept, and it is the Responsibility of the Skipper to ensure that they are credited with RC Participation for that series.

If a Skipper is registered in Advance for RC and that days Racing is cancelled due to weather or other conditions that will count as their RC commitment.

If a Skipper registers for Race Committee on the day of the Race and Racing is cancelled due to Weather, which shall not count towards filling their RC obligation.

Skippers that are not members may be invited to work RC in positions that they are qualified for.

No race shall be held if the RC is not staffed with adequate personnel. This includes, but is not limited to a committee boat and a chase boat. Both boats must have a minimum of 2 qualified boaters. There shall be no persons on any committee boat that are unable to assist with racing and the safety of all persons on the water.